The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Steig Larsson

Fresh from my introduction to Swedish cinema, I decided to buy the book. Luckily, someone called Reg Keeland has taken the time to translate it.

Suprisingly, the film is actually very close to the book and the understandibly condensed film version misses few of the plot elements (hopefully the planned Hollywood version will take note).

Usually I wouldn’t recommend reading the book before the film, as disapointment usually follows, but this time it certainly wasn’t the case.

The book clarifies that Lisbeth (the hacker with the dragon tattoo) is investigating Mikael (the reporter) as a prelude to his being hired by Henrik Vanger.

While certain events and characters were condensed for the film, the plot follows the same investigation into the disapearance of Harriet, Henrick’s neice 40 years previously and the grim discovery of a series of brutal murders across Sweden.

The book further fleshes out the relationship between Mikael and his business partner Erika Berger and members of the Vanger family as he pursues his quest for the truth and details how he fell foul of the law in the first place.